


Slow on the Uptake

by TheWishmeister



Category: Naruto
Genre: And Bloody Stays, Clueless Boys, First Time, First Time Hookup, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Frottage, Lemon, Lime, M/M, Mutual Pining, One Shot, Outdoor Sex, PWP, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Post-War, Soul Bond, Soulmates, Uchiha Sasuke Returns to Konoha, Yaoi, citrus, fixit fic, no marriages
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:01:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26299069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWishmeister/pseuds/TheWishmeister
Summary: Sasuke is back in Konoha with strong feelings for Naruto but he's wary about turning his feelings into action. Naruto is completely in love with Sasuke but too clueless to make a move without serious prompting after his previous attempt didn't go... Well, it just didn't go.When the two of them are sent alone on a mission to the Land of Wind, they finally get it right.
Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 25
Kudos: 274





	Slow on the Uptake

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Firstly, I created the Daimyo myself- I don’t care how they really are in canon for this specific fic, as I just needed them to be a certain way for the point of this story. Secondly, of course this is after the war but canon divergent in that the boy’s don’t get pressured into passionless heteronormative relationships by desperate-Hinata and desperate-Sakura. To be honest I love the girls almost as much as I love the boys. However I feel as if such a disservice was done to the girls as well by writing them into said “convenient” marriages to these two men who were a level of "soulmate bonded" that the anime world doesn’t give us nearly enough.. I also do not wish to deny that sasunarusasu is, like any loving relationship, complete with its own problems but there’s no need get into any more of this here.  
> Reviews give me life; I’m very sad when I work so hard and don’t get any so if you enjoy this I’d love to hear from you: what you liked and didn’t like and what worked and did not. Basically I'd love to hear what you liked but con-crit is extremely valuable too. Also I’m kind of thinking about starting a series of smutty one-shots about these two so I’m totally accepting requests as well! (I just don't like to write modern AU or crossover fics) Anyway, without any further ado, please enjoy this fluffy smutty something of a story  
> .

The Mission: Deliver a private message from the Daimyo of the Land of Fire to the Daimyo of the Land of Wind, a pretentious, unintelligent blob of a man wary of the manner in which shinobi usually deliver information across long distances via summons, not to mention shinobi in general (unless he requires them to fight for him, that is.)

Sasuke merely grunts, "hn,” in response, his face a perfect mask of stoicism even though Naruto bets that he's relieved inside to finally have a real mission after months of picking weeds, rounding up runaway dogs and cats and painting merchant stalls. He probably expects Naruto to go along with it as well; after all the blonde ninja has had to follow him around everywhere in order to-in Tsunade's words- "make sure he isn't up to something that I, not you, _gaki_ , would consider suspicious." Naruto also thinks, from the expectant way that Sasuke is eyeing him, that he would have thought Naruto would be bursting with excitement in his usual over the top, idiotic manner at the thought of getting out of the Konoha gates. Then again, maybe not. Sasuke knows him better than most, and definitely knows that Naruto has never been anything but surprising. 

So when he starts to whine, "Ahh, baa-chan, you've gotta be kidding me. You can't send a little slug or something?" Sasuke doesn't even roll his eyes, nor does he wince when the Godaime Hokage slams her hands down on her desk. After all, if she does resort to throwing the furniture, as she often does, both boys should be able to dodge the large projectile with ease. But instead of hurling the desk, she instead leans back in her chair, exasperation creasing her forehead as she pinches the bridge of her nose between a flawlessly manicured forefinger and thumb. 

"Naruto, you were the one who insisted that you be Uchiha's glorified babysitter-slash-bodyguard in order to keep him out of a prison cell. This is his mission, to be completely honest, as all of our other Chuunin and Jounin shinobi are busy doing more... important things, so I figured you wouldn't mind, on Sasuke's first B level mission, to accompany him. Perhaps I was wrong and you'd rather go back to tending the chickens for that nice old man; what was his name again?" 

"No!" Sasuke yells, his voice booming with more emotion than he’d intended to reveal, but gods he’d really hated those chickens. The blonde beside him giggles at the memory; it was more than funny, the way they spent the whole afternoon following the pale teenager around, pecking his ankles until he threatened to chidori them all into the next century- as if a bunch of stupid birds knew anything about jutsu. 

Naruto had laughed while he nudged the birds away from his best friend with his foot, laughed while he was locking them back in their coop for the evening, and hadn't stopped laughing even when they were back at his apartment, stripping off their sweat soaked clothing and preparing to argue over who showered first. ("They think you're their mother," he'd said, the words barely intelligible over his cackling as he struggled to balance speaking with hysterical wheezing, "because... Your hair... Your chicken butt hair!" And Sasuke had thrown him into the dining room table, sending him and the broken furniture to the ground with a echoing crash, muttering under his breath that he absolutely did not have chicken butt hair.) 

Naruto has to push the memory down deep to keep his composure, but not so deep that he can't access it again when need be- he's sure that his punishment for mocking Sasuke's hair is not yet over, not by a long shot. So he holds his mouth, fights his grin down to a small smile, and determines to let Sasuke decide on the mission, Sasuke who takes a deep but quiet breath and allows himself to continue speaking, sounding every bit his normal, unbothered self, as if his previous scream was but a figure of their collective imaginations. 

"No, we'll take the message to the Daimyo in the Land of Wind." He fixes Naruto with a steely gaze which the blonde counters with an impossibly wide grin, turning again to the Hokage who is now looking back and forth between the two young ninja with a something akin to amusement. 

"Yeah, sorry about that baa-chan. Sasuke and I are, uh, more than honored to take this mission and all... I didn't mean to be rude." 

"Good," Tsunade sighs. “Finally. For gods' sakes I'll never understand kids these days... Take an hour to gather what you need and then I'll expect you to be on your way." She hands the Uchiha the small scroll containing the message from the Fire Daimyo, thankful and certain that she doesn't have to tell _him_ not to open it. The boys then nod and depart, finally leaving her in silence and a frazzled sort of peace. Very frazzled, she decides, rifling through her desk drawers for her good sake and lifting the bottle straight to her lips. 

/

The two shinobi take less than an hour to prepare and they pass through the Konoha gates a couple hours before noon, Sasuke staring straight ahead, his face perfectly blank as he walks- as usual, the picture of absolute composure. Meanwhile, Naruto fiddles with the straps of his pack, irritation simmering just beneath the surface of his skin as he shifts his frowning lips from side to side, contemplating whether or not to speak. As is often the case, his mouth makes the decision before his brain can even begin to catch up.  
  
"Y'know, teme, you didn't have to make me look like an idiot in front of baa-chan."

“Tch,” Sasuke scoffs, " I didn't have to do anything for you to look like an idiot. You did that yourself, dobe." 

"Asshole," Naruto grumbles but his companion doesn't respond and they end up walking in silence for a long time, too long for the blonde to deal with without getting antsy. It's been like this between the two of them- awkward and painfully quiet- since Naruto got a little drunk and a lot too close to the other boy a few nights ago, to carelessly brush a few strands of hair out of his face, which Sasuke responded to with a look of shock that made Naruto immediately flinch back and scoot away with his arms stretched out in the space between them, though the expression only remained for a second or two. But then Sasuke had made everything even worse by sleeping on the couch that night rather than the bed they'd been sharing for months. 

It a was a let down, to say the least; Naruto had been getting a vibe that maybe Sasuke was starting to come around to the idea of being more than friends, but the next day when, assuming he'd been wrong, he apologized ("You're my best friend, Sas', and I didn't mean to make shit weird,") and Sasuke had looked so... Naruto swears he had seemed extremely disappointed. Since then, the silence has felt like another person standing in between them. Today being no different- besides their brief interaction during and after their time in the Hokage’s office- the sun is setting before one of them speaks.

"We should set up camp," Sasuke says, dropping his pack once they reach a small clearing in the trees, as if he's decided that they're going to stop right there, right now. Naruto follows suit without complaining, having no reason to argue otherwise. "I hear running water nearby so I'll find food; you start a fire."

"Shouldn't you start a fire, and I can catch the fish?" Naruto asks Sasuke's retreating back. “You’ve got that stupid fire-breathing jutsu and all, and besides, you can use your sharingan to make sure no one sneaks up on us.” He isn't expecting the black haired boy to turn around but he does, a playful smirk on his face that knocks the air right out of Naruto's lungs. 

"First of all, I don't even need my sharingan to know that there's no one around but us, moron. Otherwise, you might be right. If I leave you with the fire I’ll probably end up having to do everything,” Sasuke concedes, his tone bordering on amused rather than annoyance, much to the surprise of his companion. “But remember, fish don't have necks, usuratonkachi; you slap them on a rock." 

"Yeah, no duh, fish don't have fuckin' necks." Naruto gives Sasuke's shoulder a shove with his own as he passes him; they trade places so effortlessly, fingertips grazing, as if the events of the other day never happened and Naruto can't help but smile. "I know how to catch a stupid fish, teme." 

"Sure you do, dead last." Sasuke teases, smirking still. “I’m only saying ‘cause the time before this-“

“Was not a damn mission and I was way too drunk to be worried about how to kill a fish!” Naruto argues but Sasuke has already turned back towards their small campsite. Rolling his eyes and chuckling to himself, the blonde walks slowly, not leaving to find the creek until he hears Sasuke blowing fire onto the kindling using his katon jutsu. He hopes that maybe things can be back to normal now; it's insane, he thinks, how much he missed this playful, open side of the Uchiha that seems to be his and no one else's. With that in mind, he wonders if it would hurt to try something again.

/

Naruto, despite having slipped on an algae slicked stone and fallen into the rather large creek after stupidly deciding to leave all of his clothes on, manages to catch three decent sized fish for each of them, which Sasuke cooks. ("You're doing it completely wrong, idiot. I'll do yours too.") So they eat, and then they sit, neither of them tired enough to take turns sleeping. Naruto shivers in his wet clothes until Sasuke tells him to take them off to let them dry; he protests for a few minutes and then decides that he might as well, stripping down to his boxers and accepting the blanket that he's offered.

Feeling a bit self conscious, being half naked and all, he hopes that Sasuke doesn't notice him staring from across the small camp fire. It’s almost impossible not to stare, even though by now he’s become fully reacquainted with how shockingly gorgeous the black haired boy is, having seen him every single day of the three months since the Interrogation Department of Konoha released him into the leaf's general population. Ninety days he's spent taking in his former teammate's every inch, praying to whatever gods might be listening that Sasuke doesn't run away again, but memorizing his every line and curve just in case he does.

That this is their first mission together alone and outside of the Konoha gates has Naruto slightly on edge. He’d assumed that they would have been made to bring some dumb genin along, or maybe Sakura-chan, not that her company would have been unwelcome, but tonight it's just him and Sasuke and he can’t help but admit that he’s so, so thankful for that. Even so, it doesn’t take long for Naruto’s nerves to get the better of him and once something pops into his mind for him to say he doesn’t stop running his mouth. His fingers knead the hem of the blanket draped over his shoulders as he talks, as he watches the radiant Uchiha sitting across from him and watching him in return, lips twitching ever so often in response to something he says and soon Naruto’s entire body is screaming at him to make a move.

Sasuke is always (in-humanly, unfairly) beautiful but even more so at night- his one normal eye without the sharingan activated looking impossibly black, the rinnegan shining bright purple, reflecting the fire. But it's his skin that's so utterly enchanting. Even after so many days spent outside on missions and during hours of sparring, he doesn’t bear even a hint of a tan: Naruto’s eyes scan the paleness of his face, the white column of his throat, the one remaining hand effortlessly flipping a kunai over and over in an attempt to ward off boredom. It’s so hard to look at anything else when Sasuke’s pearlescent flesh absolutely glows under the moon’s soft rays and Naruto feels the familiar heat of longing and attraction begin to burn low in his abdomen.

"Hey Sasuke..." 

"What, dobe?" Sasuke's looks at him with no expression. 

"I want to... I'm cold," Naruto lies, fakes a shiver, and Sasuke is rolling his eyes, but still he pats the spot beside him on the ground and the blonde doesn't hesitate to crawl over, to press his body against Sasuke's side and tilt his head to lean against a bony shoulder that seems made to fit him. 

Sasuke's smell is intoxicating- dizzying: musky sweat and faded remnants of the ridiculously strong scented soap he showered with that morning, and beneath all of that, just him. His _Sasuke_ smell. Everyone has their own natural fragrance, something Naruto realized during the years without his closest friend, during which he tried to discretely smell everyone, just searching for someone who smelled the same, or even similar enough to allow him to pretend. He soon learned, disappointed, that the scent was Sasuke's alone, along with everything else about him: the depth and smoothness of his voice, the exact angle of his lips when he smirks, the way that sometimes- to Naruto at least- he can look so beautiful and delicate despite that he's trained his body to become an unstoppable deadly weapon. 

Sometimes though- now, for instance- he can be a bit soft, just enough to allow Naruto to relax into his edges. 

"It's what friends do, y’know," Naruto had said one time when it crossed his mind to thank Sasuke for it, for the closeness he started to allow between them when he returned to Konoha. (A closeness that had always been there, even when, like a dying heartbeat, it couldn't be felt.) "And I'm really happy that you're letting us be friends."

Sasuke had smirked, flicked him in the middle of the forehead and said, "Of course, dobe." And that had been all the permission Naruto needed. He couldn't admit it yet- love- not even to himself, but after that day he'd allowed himself to indulge in his more innocent urges to touch: brushed fingers as they walked, lingering contact when they sparred, leaning on his shoulder. Usually it's enough. 

He thought that tonight it would be enough too, but instead something inside him burns for more, so much _more_. So Naruto thinks, _fuck it,_ and turns his face into Sasuke's neck, inky strands of silken hair tickling his nose. He's not expecting Sasuke's arm to wrap around his shoulder, nor for Sasuke's face to turn towards his own and suddenly they're so close, warm breath against his lips. He swallows hard and prepares to ask permission, finally ready to speak what he's spent months practicing, some excuse for why he just has to do what he’s about to do. “Sasuke, I-“

Sasuke's lips cut him off.

"Oh." Naruto sighs into the kiss, and then, relieved, lets himself melt into Sasuke. The way their mouths move together feels natural, safe and familiar, even though their previous accidental kisses were not even similar to this. No, they were not like this at all: deep and slow and full of desire that radiates in equal parts from both of them as Naruto opens for the tongue that drags against the seam of his lips, his own tongue sliding around and against Sasuke's and dancing through the cavern of his mouth before he switches to suck on an irresistibly soft lower lip, nibbling gently. Eyes closed, he let’s the fingers of his bandage wrapped hand explore the sharp ridge of the other boy’s collarbone, tracing down his flat chest to the end of his rib cage before sliding around to rest in the middle of his back. He keeps that hand there, the other running down the middle of his taut abdomen, pinky finger dipping into the small hole of a shallow navel before continuing until his fingers brush Sasuke’s clothed erection which he softly squeezes before using his index finger to trace it’s outline, his thumb drawing a line up its underside from base to head, rubbing back and forth when he reaches the tip which elicits a quiet, low pitched whine that vibrates against his lips. 

Naruto pulls away first, drawing a trail of saliva between his tongue and Sasuke's bottom lip, proof to him that what just happened was not his fantasy but indeed utterly real, and the sight of Sasuke’s reddened lips and hooded eyes causes Naruto's lower abdomen to bloom with heat. He feels almost lightheaded, more blood seemingly rushing towards the leaking, throbbing hardness between his legs than to his brain and even though he was the one to end the kiss he wants more, wants everything. 

"I... I," Sasuke stammers, the flush of his cheeks so, so gorgeous, so rare and remarkable. And slightly strange; Naruto is used to the Uchiha always looking extremely certain, but right now his face holds both nervousness and relief, the gap in between the two bridged by a lustful expression Naruto knows is mirrored on his own face. "I wasn't sure you'd let me kiss you, let alone… that…." 

"You weren't…” Naruto let's out an incredulous huff of laughter. "Damn, teme, I thought _I_ was the slow one, and you-“

"Shut up," Sasuke replies, but there's no cruelty in his voice as he leans in to kiss Naruto again, the hand that was on the blonde's shoulder moving to the nape of his neck as he kisses hungrily, desperately. Their mouths stay connected when Sasuke moves to lie back, pulling the other boy on top of him and he fails to hold back a gasp as their hips slide together, Naruto's erection brushing his own. Even the slightest touch feels explosive. 

Naruto takes their altered position as an invitation to grind down into hips that buck up into his own, repeating the motion until curiosity gets the better of him and he reaches between them. Between and down, down until his shaking hand finds Sasuke's cock- his own is already sticking out through the hole in his boxers- and he fumbles, awkward, inexperienced, to pull the slick, stiff length up and out of his pants to rest on his flat white belly. It's a little bit amusing and incredibly sexy the way Sasuke seems to be having trouble breathing right; Naruto can't help but nervously smile down at him. 

"It's ok if I touch you?" 

That earns him a scoff, one thin black eyebrow quirking up at him. "No, you were just touching my dick before but now that it’s out of my pants you’re not allowed." Sasuke's voice drips with teasing sarcasm but Naruto makes an face, feeling uncertain. 

"I just don't want to do anything stupid." 

"Then stop being stupid," Sasuke replies, pushing up on his elbow to kiss Naruto again, open mouthed but gentle. It's only when tan fingers start to stroke his aching flesh that he lies down again, arching up into the touch, eyes rolling back but he still reaches out to grab Naruto's exposed cock, evenly pumping the shaft. 

Naruto forces himself to ignore Sasuke's touch as best as he can, zeroing in his focus on what his own hand is doing as he increases and then teasingly slows his pace, using his thumb to draw narrow circles over the head of the black haired boy's cock, swiping over the weeping slit and this time Sasuke let's out a loud, shuddering moan, eyes closing fully. The sound alone, possibly the most amazing thing Naruto has ever heard, he thinks, is enough to make him feel as if he's going to burst. 

His own half moan, half growl forces its way out of his throat as he leans down to kiss the unblemished whiteness of Sasuke's jaw, kissing, licking, nibbling across to the pulse below his ear and then biting, sucking at the soft flesh of his neck. 

It's too cold for him to be without qualms regarding stripping the boy beneath him completely (slightly regretful of this, Naruto releases Sasuke's penis for a moment to push up his shirt and swipe his hand over the other male’s stomach and chest, the toned, muscular flesh wrapped in silky skin that’s cool to the touch; his nipples, light pink and already stiff due to the temperature, harden further at Naruto’s playful tweaking, eliciting a quiet moan) so he jerks his own boxers down before removing Sasuke's pants. He then lowers himself until their bodies are flush against each other's and starts grinding with his hips. The wet heat and perfect friction makes Sasuke moan again and Naruto raises up to kiss the source of the sound. 

"You're really beautiful," he whispers against the other boy's swollen lips, gasping when the hips beneath him roll up. "Fuck."

"Don't stop moving," Sasuke commands; his voice trembles, something like a whine coming from deep in his throat. 

Naruto obliges the instruction, mumbling against Sasuke's mouth, "Don't stop making noises." 

He rocks his hips, Sasuke still grinding up into him; it's only a few moments before he realizes just how close he is- every time Sasuke's cock rubs against his pushing him further, further into ecstasy and finally he can't hold on any longer. 

"Shit, I'm 'bout to..." 

"Yeah," Sasuke says, "me too."

Somehow Naruto doesn't find release first; it's not until he feels Sasuke's hips jerk and Sasuke's cock twitch, cum spurting hot and thick over the both of them that Naruto feels orgasm crash into him like a rogue wave, his own cum spilling onto Sasuke's belly. He exhales a breath he didn’t even know he was holding in, stars flashing in front of his eyes and for a few moments he’s pinned by the sheer intensity of sensation alight in his nerves; it fades slowly, leaves an afterglow that hums against his skin...

"It's different," he manages to say, once his vision, the ability to even speak returns to him and he’s able to look down at the two sets of off-white liquid cooling on Sasuke’s skin. It’s surprising, to see the usually neat-almost-to-a-fault Uchiha being the one responsible for the larger mess. “If I didn’t know better I’d think you enjoyed yourself even more than I did.”

“Tch, you’re such an idiot. Unlike you I didn’t spent an hour masturbating in the shower this morning.” Sasuke’s laugh sounds like it’s bubbling out of him, (Naruto wants to catch it, hold it, keep it) the afterglow of his own orgasm leaving him smiling a bit. “At least I wasn’t the one growling like a damn animal,” he jokes, stretching his arm out to reach for his pack and pulling out a scroll. He uses kaifū no jutsu to unseal from it medium sized towel which he uses to clean himself up before passing it to Naruto who does the same.

“Hey, my bijuu happens to be a damn fox so I can growl if I want to.” Grinning, he tosses the soiled towel back to Sasuke who seals it away again. Both with flushed faces, they fix their clothes- Naruto accepting from his companion a spare pair of pants- and return to sitting by the fire, except this time, when Naruto leans his head on Sasuke's shoulder he only feels warmth.

"I love you," he says, not even thinking about whether such a thing should be said out loud or not. If he's honest with himself (and how could he not be, now, after that) it's one of the only truths he knows, and has been for so long that he's forgotten what it even feels like to not be in love with the black haired shinobi next to him. Part of him wonders how it took so long to realize this, but he doesn't let himself worry about it because deep down he knows that the timing was right. He just smiles when Sasuke sighs wistfully, replies, 

"Yeah, me too." 

He smiles against Sasuke's lips when he kisses him again; feels Sasuke's mouth sort of smiling too when he kisses back. 

"How long?" Naruto asks.

"I don't know," Sasuke says. "Definitely since I returned home. But probably much longer." 

He likes the fact that Sasuke says "home,” a word he thought he’d never hear; in fact it lights him up inside like a sun. “You said-“

“Yeah, I realize.” The black haired boy snaps, sounding frustrated at himself for letting the word slip, but after a moment of silence he looks to Naruto again, the anger that had flashed over his features gone, as if it was only imagined. "What about you?"

"Since the first time you left," Naruto replies, deciding to let the previous moment go as well, "and I realized that I couldn't think of anything or anyone else. But, like you said, probably much longer."

"I made myself numb to it for a long time. I tried so hard to make my feelings go away, to make myself hate you. Fuck, every time I did anything to hurt you it was with the intent that I’d finally start hating you but I never could. I just gave myself more guilt, more weakness, more things to be sorry for.” Sasuke sighs. "I hope you can forgive me, for everything I did to you." He almost startles when the heat of Naruto's palm presses, sweet and gentle, against his cheek. The blonde leans forward until their foreheads touch, brushing their noses, lips together.

"Sasuke," he breathes. "There's nothing left to forgive." Nothing he hasn't long since forgiven. Nothing but love; even when shoved down and covered over and pushed back, back, back, all of it brought them right here to be wrapped in each other's arms, speaking from the depths of their being without fear of denial or rejection because these words are a truth they cannot hide from. 

Truth. 

It's everything... It always has been, always has been Sasuke. 

Sasuke, _Sasuke_... 

"Sasuke." Naruto grins. Damn. "Sasuke." 

The Uchiha raises his eyebrow again, kind of smirking, almost smiling. "Naruto," he says. 

And Naruto laughs a bit. Ghosts a kiss against Sasuke's lips. "Bastard, teme." 

"Usuratonkachi." 

"Are you happy?" 

Sasuke doesn't have to pause. "Yes, I am. You?" 

"Always, when I'm with you." 

The words are warm and more soothing than the fire. Naruto leans into Sasuke once more, kisses him slow and deep, and again, Sasuke kisses back. 


End file.
